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00:00In the United States in the early part of the 20th century and then in the mid part of the 20th century wealthy people like John D Rockefeller or Henry Ford set up foundations where they would take their stocks or other assets and put it in no foundation. And then the foundation would be to some extent controlled for a while by families but then eventually the families would not be control in the Ford Foundation case. Henry Ford famously got off the foundation board many decades ago because he wasn't happy. It is said with the Ford Foundation. Now you've and re-engage the Ford family. Was that hard to do. Henry Ford the second left the board in 1976. And it is true that he was happy about a lot of the work of the Ford Foundation. But he was unhappy. He was unhappy because the work that we did in the American South to advance integration and to support efforts to to deem illegal discriminatory practices was a problem because Southern dealers felt the displeasure of southern consumers. So Henry Ford the second was hearing from Ford Motor Company dealers that consumers didn't want to buy our cars. So he decided to leave. We have been independent of the Ford family and Ford Motor Company for over six decades. I believe that it was critically important for us to re-engage the Ford family. This is where the money came from. It was important to re-engage in the city of Detroit. And this is why we played a pivotal role in that bankruptcy reengaging with the Ford family. It was easy. Bill Ford and his mother Martha Firestone Ford are among the most amazing people I know and they were happy to re-engage. And so we two years ago elected Henry Ford the third the grandson of Henry Ford the second to our board.

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How the Ford Foundation Re-engaged With the Ford Family

Darren Walker, Ford Foundation president, talks about why Henry Ford II left the foundation and then how the foundation re-engaged with the family years later. This episode of "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations" was recorded Dec. 13. (Source: Bloomberg)

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